13 Nov 3 Ways to Simplify Your Day in 30 minutes or Less
I am going to state some facts. These are not meant to be seen as boasting but rather to add credibility to what comes after.
- I am an executive pastor at Rogue Valley Fellowship, it is my full time job.
- I have started going back to school at Pacific Bible College.
- I am the President of the board for Gamerosity.
- I occasionally help my parents out with their trampoline park.
- My wife and I have four amazing children.
- I tend to get involved in a lot of extra events and activities.
To start I wanted to make sure that I mention the support from Jessica, my wife, is really the key to this whole thing. Without her I would not be able to do half the things I get to do. She encourages, supports, and comes along side me when needed. She is amazing.
You may have a busy life like I do, you feel like you never can catch up. I am going to give you 3 ways that have helped to simplify my days and allow me to do what I want to do. They are all quick and can instantly give you more time to do what actually matters.
Remove Responsibilities
Take the time to write out your responsibilities on a piece of paper. I say a piece of paper because you need to do this without distractions. Write down every single thing you owe time and your skills to. For me this has taken a while to become a solid discipline. The more I do it though, the more I can weed out things I do that I shouldn’t be doing.
I used to play a lot of slow-pitch softball. It was fun and I had a good time, however, it tended to eat up a lot of family time. It also had the added con of watching a lot of my friends get hurt. Eventually I had to realize that this was a good thing that had to go. I am now able to use that time elsewhere, I don’t regret stopping for a second.
Start a Morning Routine
I guess you could say I am a full believer in this, but not always the best practitioner. Though, when I do commit to creating a morning routine my days go so much better.
There are usually weeks at a time where I do everything that I want to do in the morning in order to prepare for the day, these are my favorite weeks of the year.
The days I can accomplish all of my routine, I feel really great about starting my day. On top of that I have simplified my morning. You ask how? When you set a routine, even though you are adding “complexity” to your morning, you actually are removing all the millions of other choices you could make in the morning.
If you remove the freedom of choice for any time of day, you are simplifying that portion of your day. Plan out your lunch break every day and do the same thing every time. This allows you to get a lot of things done that you want to do at a scheduled time and therefore frees up other parts of your day for freedom of choice.
End Your Day Well
Whether you have a 9-5 or you never are off (all the moms out there) it is important to end your day way. Whenever I plan on leaving for the day I take 30 minutes before I go and process everything I have done.
I have a huge whiteboard that I just start writing things down on. Usually I already have a huge checklist that I have been working through. I take a picture with my phone so I have a record of what I did and then I erase everything I checked off. Whatever is left makes it to tomorrow’s list. I’ll even make notes next to the items if I am waiting on someone else to complete it.
So why do I recommend spending the last 30 minutes of your day doing this? I’ll tell you why, because a lot of the problem with a life that feels too complicated is that your mind is thinking about too many things. You head home and you are still thinking about the 5 things you have to do tomorrow. When you allow yourself to process it and make those lists, then you can allow your mind to leave it at work.
There you go, 3 things that take 30 minutes or less to focus, start, and end your day right.
Grace & Peace,
